Nov 11, 2004 - 12:00 am .- Upon learning of the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat this morning, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state, sent a telegram of condolences in the name of Pope John Paul II to Rawhi Fattuh, president of the Palestinian Legislative Council, expressing the Holy Father’s closeness to the Palestinian people.

Nov 11, 2004 - 12:00 am .- The Vatican issued a statement following the death of Palestinian National Authority president Yasser Arafat, who passed away this morning in a military hospital in Paris at the age of 75, asking for peace in the Holy Land and for “two independent and sovereign States, fully reconciled with each other."

Nov 11, 2004 - 12:00 am .- Presiding at Mass this morning in St. Peter’s Basilica for the repose for the sould of the cardinals and bishops who have died this year, Pope John Paul II said in his homily that the deceased “tasted with faith” the eternal banquet in heaven during their earthly pilgrimmage in the sacrament of the Eucharist.

Nov 11, 2004 - 12:00 am .- The Archdiocese of Denver is starting a new sexual abuse awareness program for children in its parishes. Diocesan officials expect the program to be fully implemented by March.

Nov 11, 2004 - 12:00 am .- The Secretary General of the Bishops Conference of Ecuador, Bishop Jose Vicente Eguiguren, called for the protection of life from the moment of conception and said the morning after pill should be prohibited in the country.

Nov 11, 2004 - 12:00 am .- The number of weddings in Italy has sunk to an all-time low. According to the state statistics office Istat, there were 258,000 marriages celebrated in 2003 compared with 280,000 in 2000.

Nov 11, 2004 - 12:00 am .- The Archbishop of Santiago, Cardinal Francisco Errazuriz, encouraged Chileans this week to calmly accept and face the painful conclusions of the report by the National Commission on Political Imprisonment and Torture.

Nov 11, 2004 - 12:00 am .- Celebrating the feast of Our Lady of Almudena in Spain, the Archbishop of Madrid and President of the Bishops Conference of Spain, Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, renewed calls for respect for human life saying, “Nobody can manipulate the human condition as it has been planned and created by God.”

Nov 11, 2004 - 12:00 am .- Bishop Mario Moronta of Los Teques, Venezuela, said this week the Church in that country is able to continue operating its schools but that to do so requires the support of the government.